Disney Plus goes live two months early on Android – but not all of you can use it

With the official Disney Plus launch date being set for November 12 for some time now, it came as a bit of a surprise that a free version of the Disney Plus app has gone live a good two months in advance of this.

You’ll need to be in the Netherlands to access it, but first impressions from the Disney Plus service seem to show a well-designed and curated library – even if it lacks the volume of competitor Netflix. It has currently only gone live on the Android app through the Google Play store – rather than on iOS – though you can also access it through browsers.

A writer for The Verge found some interesting tidbits when they accessed the free pilot, finding a total of 18 Marvel titles – including the Iron Man, Guardians of the Galaxy, and Thor films – despite previous accounts suggesting there’d only be a small handful at launch. Licensing agreements, however, will no doubt differ between territories.

Why has Disney Plus launched early?

It makes sense for the Disney Plus platform to go through some public testing before its official launch. There’s only so much you can test internally, and Disney will likely be looking to see how well their servers support large numbers of users.

As ever, those of you in the US or elsewhere may be disappointed not to get first dibs, but we don’t blame Disney for starting in a country with a smaller user base – and only on the Android OS – in order to keep numbers manageable.

Seeing an early launch in the Netherlands hurts even more given the lack of any Disney Plus UK release date, but we’re trying to stay calm – and resist the urge to use a VPN – in the meantime.